Jihadi Missile Crisis

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently claimed that Hezbollah possessed chemical and biological weapons. The news comes as the IDF contends the terror organization has now amassed more than 50,000 missiles and rockets, heightening Israel’s concerns over its vulnerability to a Hezbollah assault.

The assertion by Gates followed reports in April 2011 that Libyan rebels had ransacked chemical weapons storage depots in and around the Libyan city of Benghazi. There they obtained at least 2,000 artillery shells carrying mustard gas and 1,200 nerve gas shells, which they sold to both Hezbollah and Hamas.

Not surprisingly, Iran was believed to be the broker of the deal. Of course, Iran has long been accused of supplying Hezbollah with chemical weapons, the last time in 2009 when chemical traces were discovered in a Hezbollah weapons warehouse.

Although Hezbollah denies having chemically-armed missiles or rockets, it doesn’t deny their importance to the terror organization. According to Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, “These are our pride and dignity… no one will be able to grab them, neither in Lebanon nor in the world.”

Unfortunately for Israelis, Hezbollah’s precious stockpile has now surpassed over 50,000 missiles and rockets according to the IDF. The IDF has also determined the number of pre-designated targets of Hezbollah launch sites to have grown from around 200 in 2006 to now somewhere in the thousands.

In fact, in April 2011 Israeli officials had already identified 550 underground bunkers, 300 surveillance sites and 100 other facilities south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon, the zone where Hezbollah is supposedly banned from keeping weapons under the UN-sponsored truce that ended the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war.

The entire situation has added to growing Israeli concern over its increasing vulnerability from Hezbollah’s already enormous and growing stockpile of weaponry, which according to former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens can now “reach every corner of Israel and threaten its entire civilian population.”

Even though Israel has a newly deployed Iron Dome anti-missile system, that system remains vulnerable to massive salvos fired from Hezbollah’s short-range missile systems. For example, during the 34-day war in 2006, Hezbollah unleashed nearly 4,000 missiles and rockets — around 120 a day — into northern Israel.

However, 2009 Wikileaks documents reveal Israel expects a new war with Hezbollah to last two months, with 500 missiles a day, including 100 that would reach Tel Aviv. More worrisome is that Israel’s Home Front Command admitted in April 2011 that only 31 percent of Israel’s 7 million people had been supplied gas masks.

Added into this troubling equation are reports surfacing of Hezbollah busily moving weapons from the chaos in Syria and distributing them immediately to its forces so they don’t fall into the wrong hands.

Frank Crimi is a San Diego-based writer and author of the book Raining Frogs and Heart Attacks. You can read more of Frank's work at his blog,www.politicallyunbalanced.com.

Chezwick_mac

There can be no repeat of the 2006 Lebanon War. Israeli cities like Haifa that had been spared destruction in every war since the War of Independence were hit repeatedly with rockets. While the destruction was limited, the psychological repercussions were telling. The Israeli population lost its sense of security….and now, Hezbollah's arsenal is much more menacing, both quantitatively and qualitatively, as the article above clearly lays out.

The only effective deterrence to prevent a destructive new war is for the Israelis to formally announce a war doctrine that holds Syria accountable for Hezbollah's actions (since Syria is the conduit for Iranian arms to Hezbollah)…that rockets and missiles fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon will be tantamount to being fired from Syria and that Israel will respond accordingly. Such a policy ups the ante considerably, but we all know Lebanon is expendable to the mullahs in Iran and its destruction will not deter Tehran from trying to hit Israel hard through its proxy.

Syria on the other hand, will have much to lose…and such a policy of linkage by Israel might just compel the Syrians to begin perceiving their allies in Tehran as a liability instead of an asset. They will have every incentive to reign-in Hezbollah and prevent a war they don't want and cannot win.

WilliamJamesWard

The Mullahs in Iran should get it first………………William

iksnorb

It has been said not only by myself but numerous others & on many occasions, the only way to deter aggression is to let your enemies know that you carry a bigger stick & that you will use it.
In Israels case, it also needs to make this known to all countries & the UN, not just its (declared) enemies.
Should Hezbollah make moves to strike or catch Israel off guard & actully do so, a swift & disproportionate response is what will be required.
Make the cost of aggression so high that any attempt to destroy or seriously hurt Israel will mean the destruction of oneself.
Israel should declare now, publicly to all & in unequivical terms that Damascus would be the prime target if attacked from Hezbollah/ Syria/ Iran.
Let there be no misunderstanding.

http://www.facebook.com/al-kidya al Kidya

How nice! The US and NATO forces are aiding rebels in Libya who are then ransacking Gadhafi's stockpiles of chemical weapons and selling them to Hamas and Hezbollah so they can then kill Israelis with them.

Was this all planned to bring about the destruction of Israel or what? It sure makes you wonder doesn't it.
Irael should get UN approval to raid weapons bunkers in the zone determined by the UN where no missiles or any other weapons are to be stored.
Ah! To hell with it. Israel should just go in, UN approval or not.

Wesley69

And we are on the side of these rebels in Libya??????? Hey, Obama. Wake up!!!!! Are you creating another Egypt???????

budmanx

PART 1.
If Israel loves life and Muslims love death that sounds like a win/win situation to me. This stuff has been going on far too long and now the Musims have enough weapons to actually kill every Jew in Israel. This is not tolerable. Who could blame Israel for preemptively eliminating this threat? If you had a neighbor who for years had tried to kill you and your familty how long would you wait before you took them out? I wouldn't wait until they had overwhelming weapons enough to be assured of succeeding in exterminating me. Does that make sense? Israel has shown decades of restraint. And now that the USA has a president that is obviously pro Islam and anti Israel there can be no doubt that Israel is on it's own.

Wesley69

When the next war comes, Israel MUST neutraize Hezbolloh positions in southern Lebanon. Once again, the terms of the ceasefire have been broken. This region near the border MUST be demillitarized. However, Israel, not the UN, needs to patrol it.

I wonder if some of those weapons came from the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon?

Fred Alexander

Israel should attack their weapons storage facilities and let them breath their own chemicals to be used against Israel.

Cynic

That means attacking civilian housing used by Hezbollah to store missiles and arms, as was demonstrated in the 2006 war.
They even forced Christian communities in Southern Lebanon to accommodate them.
And then another Goldstone will be prised from under a rock by the UN.

budmanx

PART 2.__It's time for Islam to learn the lesson President Truman taught the Japanese in WWII. It only took the destruction of 2 cities to bring a lasting peace and an understanding on Japan's part that Truman had the balls to kill all of them if they didn't stop making war on us. It's a simple message. Which is worse, the killing of 7 million Jews or the destruction of a couple of muslim cities? Millions of people don't have to die. But since muslim leaders profess that they love death just let several hundred thousand of them have it. Lets see if the rest of them really want that too. I think they don't. and I think the history lesson Truman provided is a true lesson that will once again result in drastic change of mindset among muslims and a lasting peace like Truman gave the world ending WWII.It only took 2 cities in Japan to convince them we would do it if they didn't stop waging war on us. Truman was right.

elihew

@budmax;
I agree; and the two Muslim cities that should be at the top of the list are of course, Mecca & Medina. Wouldn't that frost them?!

Ageofreason

The killing of Israelis is not acceptable, thus the IDF and the government must do whatever is necessary to prevent that from happening, regardless of the predictable international howling and caterwauling which is nothing but chaff in the wind. It has been said many times before by far wiser men and women than I, but it needs to be said again and again: the United Nations as an institution has become a force for statism and tyranny. New York City has a nest of vipers within. Those member states who are not outright enemies of civilization, with a very few exceptions, are spineless bags of sh**. I say to Israel: If you leave this too long, you will, in the end, for your survival, be forced to resort to the nuclear option. If you preempt, you will be called, falsely, the aggressor. It would appear to be a waiting game of preparation and strategy sessions, and when the earth finally is soaked with the blood of your enemies, and those that survive lie humbled, you must take the land you win with pride, and begin the expulsions so that no enemies remain on your soil.

elihew

Maybe Israel should 'wheel out' their 'Samson Option' early! I, for one, would support that…

Asbirn

I wonder how the Muslims would feel knowing the first missles Israel launches are going straight to Mecca and Medina. They may worship death but not to Mecca and Medina

zman

Amen to That!

WilliamJamesWard

The leaders of every Nation that has anything to do with attacking Israel
should be eliminated immediately and know beforehand that the decision
to attack Israel is certain suicide. Israel should be prepared to do this
and have tracking on all of these Jihadist rat leaders. Can it be more
obvious than that Israel must destroy these people or sit back and
wait to be killed. First on the list should be the swine in Iran….William

Edward

It must be make known throughout the world that if the US or India or Israel suffer a nuke/chemical/biological attack, mecca and the kabba will be TOTALLY DESTROYED in retaliation.

That means no more "hajj" ever again.

No more ring-around-the-rosie of the kabba.

It should be up to responsible Muslims to eliminate the racist, fascist elements within Islam – or Islam will suffer a REAL NAKBA.

ObamaYoMoma

The Geneva Conventions, which is a ludicrous attempt by the left to regulate war since they are obsessed with regulating anything and everything, has miserably failed, as the only countries that abide by the Geneva Conventions are Western democracies that never go to war against each other.

Indeed, the Geneva Conventions should only apply so long as all the countries at war respect the terms and conditions of the Geneva Conventions. The second that one country involved in the fighting ceases abiding by the terms and conditions of the Geneva Conventions, all other countries in response should also immediately stop abiding by the terms and conditions of the Geneva Conventions and not be held responsible subsequent to the war as long as they were not the first country that ceased abiding by the Geneva Conventions. This would serve as a deterrence to war, as Muslims would have to think twice before resorting to fighting via total war tactics in emulation of Muhammad.

In fact, the unintended consequences of the Geneva Conventions has been to increase the frequency of war, as Muslims who abide only by Sharia have been able to successfully buck the terms and conditions of the Geneva Conventions, while Western countries that have been forced to abide by the terms and conditions of the Geneva Conventions have, on the other hand, been forced to fight wars mostly against Muslims with one hand tied behind their backs.

Thus, the US and Israel should announce together to the world that from now on we will only abide by the terms and conditions of the Geneva Conventions so long as our adversaries also abide by the terms and conditions of the Geneva Conventions and the second that those adversaries cease abiding by those terms and conditions, we will respond in kind with much greater overwhelming brute force.

Once this policy becomes announced, it would greatly reduce the frequency of war because the tactics of total warfare that the Muslims always inevitably employ in emulation of Muhammad will be employed against them, only with much greater overwhelming brute force.

Likewise, the USA should also publicly announced that it will never become involved in nation building missions ever again, as that is also an idiotic product of leftism that also erases any and all deterrence and as a consequence increases the frequency of war, and that goes double for nation building missions in Muslim countries to attempt to win the hearts and minds of Muslims that are obligated to have nothing but enmity in their hearts for unbelievers.

There should be no regulations whatsoever governing war other than waging war for conquest should be outlawed under all circumstances. War is about killing your enemy before your enemy kills you, and if we get back to fighting wars the way wars are supposed to be fought, instead of erasing deterrence via insane Geneva Conventions like we are doing today, there will be a lot less war.

Indeed, the social experiment of regulating war via the Geneva Conventions has miserably failed, as the predictable unintended consequences has been to greatly increase the frequency of war.